Monday, June 16, 2014

Congress Opens Forum for Religious Fanatics

Religious leaders at the hearing

Congress recently stepped away from its usual round of idle obstructionism
to hold a hearing titled "The State of Religious Liberty In The United
States." The result was a typically
embarrassing display of ignorance by several leading religious conservatives.

Perhaps they should be given some leeway, since their circle of knowledge is
limited to a book written close to 2,000 years ago.

The Bible doesn’t mentions dinosaurs; they must not have existed, fossils be
damned.The Earth is 9,000 years old,
so away with chemistry, astronomy, archaeology and every other science that has
proven how erroneous that claim is.

Staver

In that vein, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman Matthew Staver told
the incredulous congressmen at the hearing that he didn’t know that Southern
ministers used the Bible to condone slavery, but that’s something he would
research.

Really?How about just reading the
Bible. Slave holders regularly quoted the Good Book: "Slaves, obey your
earthly masters with fear and trembling" (Ephesians 6:5), or "tell
slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every
respect" (Titus 2:9).

There are many more such verses, including Colossians 3:22: “Slaves, obey
your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on
you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the
Lord.” 1 Peter 2:18: “Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all
respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who
are harsh.”

The wonderful people who owned slaves would force their chattel into
Christian services and read these lines.

As a report by a University of Virginia professor noted: “Slaveholders
believed that slavery would liberate Africans from their savage-like ways,
especially if they were infused with Christianity. As religion ran deep through
slavery, white Christian slaveholders argued that slavery was a necessary evil
because it would control the sinful, less humane, black race.”

Righteous Christians who testified at the hearing kind of missed that point.They also ignored freedom of religion –
except for their own beliefs, of course.

Nadler

They argued that someone should be allowed to deny social services if religious
beliefs were involved.A Christian
hospital should refuse to treat a gay person, for example.Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.)
naturally was
puzzled by the distinction. “Why is requiring insurers to cover contraception
or abortion, which the Christian advocates opposed, any more of a restriction
on religious liberty than requiring insurers to cover blood transfusions, which
some other religions oppose?” he asked.

Staver had a slight problem answering that."It could be similar," he conceded, "but I think it's also fundamentally
different."

See, to him, gay people somehow aren’t created by God, although
fundamentalists believe God creates everything and everyone.Gay people also aren’t entitled to equal
protection under the law, something fundamentalists vociferously claim for
themselves.

At the heart of fundamentalist's beliefs

Of course, Staver also doesn’t believe other religious groups should have
their fundamental beliefs protected either.

Naturally, Staver is also on record as having supported therapy to “convert”
gays to a straight lifestyle. He said that state laws outlawing the practice
constituted "religious discrimination," accusing "homosexual
activists" of trying to block “the truth” about how gay people "can
successfully reduce or eliminate unwanted same-sex attractions." He ignores extensive research that has found
the therapy to be worthless, which is why states banned the practice.After all, sexual orientation is built into
to DNA; it can’t be changed through therapy.Since Staver and his cohorts don’t bother with data, they can’t possibly
know that.

At least, he’s consistent.Staver has
pushed for textbooks in Texas that promote what he labeled “Judeo-Christian
values,” but which he demanded didn’t include any references to non-Christian
faiths, including, presumably, the Jewish half of the values he touts.

When common sense failed to reach him, Staver naturally turned to the time-honored refuge
of a religious fanatic -- he lied.At
the hearing, he claimed not to have spoken about outrageous Russian anti-gay
laws.He told Rep. Steve Cohen
(D-Tenn.), "I don't know what you've read; I haven't spoken on the Russian
law anywhere."

Of course he has – publicly.

Clearly, religious beliefs have crowded out his memories.

However, since he and his like-minded cohorts base their information on a book that
contains the imaginative comments of unknown writers, the gaps in memory and abysmally
limited store of information are understandable and equally laughable.

Long-time
religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious
history.He also speaks at various
religious organizations throughout Florida.You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net.He is the author of the famed Unauthorized
Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel
Writers Get Their Information; Noel:
The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols;and Dummies Guide to Comparative
Religion.His books are available on Amazon.com,
Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.He can also be followed on Twitter.

You
can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at
http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1

About Me

During his career, Bill has been a newspaper reporter, magazine writer/editor, advertising copywriter and writer/editor of NASCAR programs, among other jobs. He has won three international awards for stories and programs while working for International Speedway Corp. and was named 2000 Florida Feature Writer of the Year.
He has published four books to date and his writing has appeared in hundreds of local, regional, state and national publications.